Above the Waves
by authenticaussie
Summary: "Dunno. I think there was-" Zoro stopped, gaze flicking towards the ocean again, and this time the blond's head followed Zoro's eyes. The blond's mouth curled into a smirk around his smoke-stick, and he cocked an eyebrow at Zoro. "What, don't tell me that you think you get rescued by a mermaid or somethin' like that."
1. Chapter 1

**AN: First in the Fairy Tale AU series! I'm sure you all can guess which story this is based off of. :3**

**Further notes at the bottom! Enjoy!**

* * *

His crimson tail left a trail of bubbles in his wake, and salt water streamed off his hair and face as Luffy broke the surface. Grey clouds blotted out the sun, the sky darkening, and the waters were almost black as he frantically tried to look around.

"_Usopp!_" He called, the small sound barely carrying across the wildly whipping waves, and an underwater current caught his fins, dragging him down and spinning him around. Luffy spluttered to the surface again, blinking his eyes frantically to try and clear the blur of switching from sea-sight to land-sight, but he couldn't spot his small fishy friend anywhere.

Even Nami had flown away in preparation for the upcoming storm, but Luffy had gotten himself lost while exploring and had swum away too fast and too far for Usopp's smaller fins to catch up with him.

Now, as thunder cracked in the ear above him, drowning out his quiet whimper, Luffy tried to figure out exactly where he'd managed to end up, glancing around frantically. There was no sign of any beaches or rocks nearby, no hint of anything he could use to guide him home, and going below the water was an almost worse experience, crazy currents swirling everywhere and knocking him about. He wasn't strong enough yet to battle through them and reach the lower levels where he could be safe, and as rain began to pelt down, bucketing within seconds, Luffy looked around frantically for somewhere to hide from the storm.

_There_!

A hulking shape had come into his view, cresting the horizon, and the merboy quickly swam towards it, head down as he bolted. If he got caught when the waves _really _began to get big, there'd be no chance of him _ever _finding his way back home! He'd probably get really injured on top of that, too.

Head down, he didn't notice the net until it was too late.

His tail immediately got tangled, hands caught soon after that as he thrashed wildly, trying to get _out _of the knotted strands that cut into his scales and flesh, and he could feel it tighten even further as he struggled.

Ropes tensed as the demons aboard the ship he'd almost crashed into immediately began to haul, and Luffy wriggled even more in a desperate attempt to get _out_.

They were going to cut him to pieces and _eat _him! Ace had warned him about fishers like these, how mer disappeared into the night, never to be seen again, bar the shards of their tails found later, drifting in the sea foam.

How could he have been so _stupid _as to have gotten himself caught?

He smashed into a hard surface, rough like rocks were but without the coolness, and it pitched and rolled unsteadily. It almost seemed like wood, but wood didn't grow that big; the most he'd ever seen had been a large chunk the palace guards had tugged away from Atlantis at one point.

Wrecks were banned, had been ever since he was a kid, and while he was just barely hitting his teen years, the warnings he'd heard and the threats about what the folk would think if the brother of the future king was seen playing around _human _things was an effective barrier. He'd eagerly explore them if given the chance, but Usopp and Nami were both tattle-tales and Ace would give him a very disappointed glare if he did, which helped curb the urge as well.

Thrashing on the ground as he tried to untangle himself, he heard their speech; gritty and weird compared to the clicks and pops that his family usually used. Some sounded similar, more gruttal than his language, but they meant nothing to him.

"Woah, hold up there!"

Even if he didn't understand the words, the tone itself was calming, hands placating by the red-haired demon's side and Luffy stopped hesitantly, knowing that there was little he could do about being tangled, and even less he could do about being on their ship.

Now that he'd stopped fighting the net, the ropes loosened slightly, and he glanced around, staring at the demons even as they gazed back at him in stunned curiosity.

They looked-

Kind of like him.

Well, their torsos did anyway; but where Luffy's tail blended seamlessly into his skin, they had weird split things, covered in cloth that stuck to them in the rain.

"What're you doing out here, huh little guy?"

Red-hair's tone was questioning, even as the rain pelted down around them, before he suddenly seemed to notice the people crowded around the two, and straightened, casting a glare.

"OY! DRAW IN THOSE SAILS!"

Luffy jumped at the unexpected shout, tail slapping the deck, and the red-hair looked down at him, concern on his face. He bent down, coming closer to Luffy, and even as the mer eyed him suspiciously, the human-creature did little but watch him cautiously; curiously.

"You alright?" He asked, and Luffy cocked his head at the questioning tone. Red-hair furrowed his brow, concentrating, before he tapped the side of his body, saying as he did so, "Ow?"

Understanding dawned on Luffy, and he shook his head, an answering look of comprehension and a grin on red-hair's. A brief pause, as the man thought, before he tapped his index finger against his chest, saying as he did so, "Shanks."

Luffy's brow furrowed again, and he licked his lips, tasting salt. Was that his name?

Judging by the fact that he'd just repeated it, tapping against his torso again, it most likely was. He sucked his tongue against his pointed teeth, brow furrowing as he tried to figure out how to say it. That weird slithery sound would be hard, but the click at the end wouldn't be too difficult.

It still sounded weird when he spoke, but red-hair looked so surprised that a laugh bubbled unbidden to Luffy's lips. Red-hair gave him an answering grin back, poking Luffy in the chest, and the mer swatted him, still chuckling happily.

"Do you need to go back to the ocean? Can you breathe?" Asked red-hair (_Shanks, he reminded himself, the word weird in his mind,_) and Luffy stared at him again, uncomprehendingly.

Shanks tapped his hands against his leg, pausing as he tried to think, before making a snapping noise with his fingers. Luffy jolted at the sound, and then latched onto Shank's hand, pulling apart the fingers to try and figure out why he'd have a tongue in his hand. How could he have possibly made such a snap without it?

The human looked startled, almost pulling away from Luffy and his sharp teeth, but he stopped himself when he saw that all the merboy was doing was inquisitively poking around his hand. Luffy looked up at Shanks, confusion drawn in his gaze, and Shanks laughed, stealing his hand away and snapping his fingers again.

Luffy immediately latched onto his hand again.

Shanks repeated the motion, slower, and Luffy gasped in amazement, quickly sitting back and staring at his own hands, trying to put them in the position that Shank's had been in. It felt weird at first, and his fingertips were too slimy to do it properly, but he valiantly tried until he produced a small _click _with his hands.

"Damn kid, you're pretty good at that!" Shanks said, before laughing heartily, and Luffy joined in; obviously the demon-creature had said a joke of some sort, and it would've been rude if he hadn't laughed, right?

The weird split things were loud as they pounded behind Luffy, and the boy almost jumped when a towering demon-thing stopped above him, panic in his tone as he said, "Cap'n, there's trouble! One of the yardmasts is gonna snap, but if we take it down we'll never get out of this storm before she blows us over!"

Shanks immediately stood, pulling down low a strawhat over his features, and a look of fierce concentration and determination replaced his grin. "Right, take her in. If we do a loop around and head to the side of the wind that'll get rid of some pressure on the wood."

"But Cap'n-"

"What, you'd rather we sink?!"

One of the other creatures moving by clapped him on the back, slapping the other human and forcing him into motion, and gave Shanks a nod. "I got it, Shanks!"

"Right kid, we gotta get you back into the ocean. Don't want anyone trippin' over that tail of yours, and it's probably safer for you down there, huh?"

Grabbing the net, Shank's nimble fingers quickly untangled the knots that Luffy'd managed to get his tail stuck in, while Luffy watched uncomprehendingly, thoroughly confused.

Suddenly, Shanks began to push him towards the side of the ship, and Luffy clawed at the ground to halt the movement. Where was he going?! What was the red-haired human trying to do to him?!

Shanks grunted with the effort it took to try and shove the struggling merboy off the ship, finally managing to get Luffy towards the edge, and with one last push, all Luffy could feel underneath him was air.

He hit the water with a loud (and painful) smack, startled by the salt that rushed through his re-opened gills and the clarity of the air he breathed now that it wasn't polluted with all the human scent.

These weird land-creatures weren't that bad after all, if they'd given him back to the sea.

* * *

Usopp was half-hysterical when Luffy finally showed up back at Atlantis, and the tiny fish looked just about ready to have a heart attack when Luffy merely grinned at him, uninjured bar small cuts in his tail from the net. They were basically unnoticeable, though, so he didn't know why Usopp's fins flared so.

When the storm finally abided, the first thing Luffy did was find the ship again, and the strange red-haired human called Shanks.

Weeks passed as Luffy trailed after their ship, eagerly feeding off the scraps they chucked overboard, and Shanks gladly talked to him, letting Luffy learn their strange language. He was a fast learner when he wanted to be, and soon had the basics down – enough to ask for food, anyway! Besides, that was the most important thing, so everything else was really only secondary for communication.

Shanks did seem delighted by having the young merboy trail after his ship, however, until one day Luffy realised that the crew – and their boat – was starting to get further away than he could swim. He wouldn't be able to get back to Atlantis within a few hours if they continued to sail as they were, and Ace was already starting to worry about his frequent disappearances.

It wouldn't be too long until Usopp was sent after him to make sure he didn't get into any trouble, and the fish most certainly would have a fit and tattle on him once he found out that Luffy had been visiting _humans_.

Luffy whistled, the sound carrying across the water, and Shank's face immediately appeared over the rails, waving at the merboy.

"Oy, what's up Lufe! How you doin' today?"

Luffy grinned at him, slapping his tail into the water, before he cleared his throat, still finding it difficult to try and converse in the humans' weird language. If only they could learn to speak like he did – it was _sooo _much easier.

"Good! Hey, hey, Shanks, I leave." He screwed up his face, biting his lip, and tried to think of how to explain it. "There far! You far." Pointing back towards Atlantis, and then in the direction that Shanks was going, he waited for the captain to get it, but was met by only a confused look. Luffy pouted.

"Luffy _here_. Shanks _there._" Again he pointed to Atlantis, then to Shanks, and then out towards the wide open ocean. Understanding dawned on Shank's features, and he disappeared from the rains.

Oh no. Did he not want to talk to Luffy anymore, now that Luffy's told the red-hair that he couldn't stay with them anymore?

Before Luffy's doubts could get too far, however, Shanks was back, strawhat clasped in his hands. "Come find us again!" He called, throwing the hat down towards Luffy. The merboy powered his tail in the air, leaping from the water to catch it, and though the hat got wet, he proudly brandished it.

Why had Shanks thrown this overboard? He'd rarely seen the captain with it off, and it seemed stupid for the red-hair to throw it.

"Yours!" Shanks called, seeing his look of confusion, and pointing towards Luffy. "Yours _now _but give it back _later!_"

Understanding cleared his confusion, and he smushed it over his head to hide the crumpling of his features and the bubbles he knew would come to his lips. He nodded determinedly, setting his features against any wobbling lips, and gave Shanks a sunny grin.

"Find again!" He called back, and Shanks cheered, whooping and throwing his fists in the air.

"Hey GUYS!" Shanks called, beckoning with his arm, "HURRY UP AND COME SAY GOODBYE TO LUFFY!"

The entire crew swarmed to the side of the ship, clustering around the captain, all with expressions of disbelief on their features.

"Eh?! He's leaving!?"

"No! We'll miss you!"

"Come follow us again soon huh?!"

"You'd better visit!"

"Don't make me chase you down to wherever you live, Luffy!"

While some of the words slipped past him, the waves and cheers as the ship sailed away made his laughter hang in the air, and he waved at them too, leaping from the ocean and frantically moving his fins and his hands to say goodbye.

He didn't stop until their ship disappeared into the sun and the sky began to turn orange, and although he knew the swim back to Atlantis would be long and cold in the dark, he didn't stop watching the sails till they disappeared over the horizon.

Then, he turned and headed home.

* * *

**AN: The first in what may became a _very_ big collection of Fairy Tale AUs because Nari loves fairy tales, and Nari loves AUs, and combining the two is making her little heart pitter-patter. I do wanna know which ones you'd like to see next please! ^w^ There's a NamiVivi one, and all the rest are currently just ZoLu ones. (coughs because no-one has requested any other fairy tales + pairings on tumblr so I'm just makin' em up as I go along.)**

**There's The Lion King, Mulan (which is what I'm currently leaning towards, aha) Tangled, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella.**

**I have a burning need to do The Princess and the Frog, but I wanna make Sanji the frog and I don't really ship him with anyone. WHICH IS WHY REQUESTS ARE OPEN. -sparkles hands in direction of tumblr blog-**


	2. Chapter 2

Years passed, and Atlantis grew into a metropolis. More merfolk from around the world came to the city, and Ace grew older, taking on more of the responsibilities that came with running a kingdom.

Luffy, while he too did grow older and stronger, and could swim the whole length of Atlantis with his eyes closed, still kept his childish tendencies… and the strawhat given to him long-ago by a red-headed human.

Of course, no-one knew about that. Luffy kept it hidden in a large grotto near the beach that was half-in and half-out of the water, along with all the rest of his treasures. Ace'd probably kill him if he found out that his younger brother had gone near a ship, but after having been rescued by them when he was younger, Luffy couldn't stop exploring and learning about the humans.

In fact, Ace'd probably kill him for exploring _this _ship, never mind that not a single human had been on it for years. Usopp certainly looked like he'd rather be dead. His whole body shivered as they darted through the remains of the wreck, scattered beams of sunlight illuminating the algae-covered bare timbers.

"Luffy," Usopp whined, casting a pleading look at the young prince of Atlantis, "Why are you so obsessed with these stupid things? Can't we go and do something else? Like, I know! We could go and visit Nami and try and get her to give us some tangerines, or we could go to your brother's library or check out the armoury _or literally anything but this!_"

Luffy rolled his eyes, ignoring his friend, before gasping with delight. "Look! Check this out." He darted through a gap in the floor planks, sneaking lower into the darkness, and he could hear Usopp almost screech when he disappeared. Snickering to himself at his scaredy-fish of a friend, Luffy glided to a stop just above the floor, the glint in the dark that'd caught his eye half-beckoning him.

"Hey Luffy? Luffy? C'mon…There's a storm coming! Can't we go home? Please!" Usopp's voice drifted down to where he was brushing silt off of a sliver of silver and peeling gold, and Luffy gave a quick glance up, before quickly hurrying to clean up the silver thing.

"Just a minute Usopp! I found something _sooo _cool."

Was it some sort of reflector-y thing?

"C'mooon Luffy," Usopp whined pitifully above him, and Luffy pouted, before grabbing the reflector thing and powering to where his friend waited. Thankfulness was easily seen to bloom on Usopp's face when he flashed into the sunlight, and he proudly brandished his prize.

Usopp peered closer and saw his own yellow and green body staring back at him. He quickly darted away, and Luffy laughed, tucking it under his arm.

"Let's go see Nami, huh? I wanna know what this is!"

Usopp looked like he wanted to curse, but he instead let loose a loud sigh, quickly zipping after Luffy as he neared the surface. Ooo, it was going to be so great to show Nami all the new things he'd found. There'd been gold at the last wreck, which would make her happy, and this giant thing he was lugging around right now was certainly going to look great once he added it to his collection. He knew the perfect spot for it too; where sunlight peaked in through the gaps in the roof of his grotto. It'd make the whole cave shine just like it'd shone down in the dim glow of the sunken ship.

Usopp suddenly darted in front of him, making Luffy skid to a stop, and he eyed Usopp curiously, tail flicking back to hold him steady.

"C'mon Luffy, we're gonna get in so much trouble! You _know _we're not meant to be near the surface. Especially this close to the shore! What if there are ships out? What if the storm beaches you? What if we get caught by demons going swimming?!"

Luffy laughed, shaking his head at his friend's panic, and swum around the side of him. "Calm down Usopp! We'll be fine." Usopp looked like he wanted to groan again, but finally only sighed and moved after Luffy, obviously attempting to make him stay out of trouble. Like _that _ever did any good.

They broke the surface, the inner surface of Luffy's grotto undisturbed by the wind that whipped up the wave outside, and Nami fluttered down from her perch, plopping Luffy's hat upon his wet hair.

Luffy grinned his thanks at her, holding the hat further down, before moving to the tiny outcropping and dropping his square frame-thing on the rock. The familiar clicks and pops he made in the back of his throat shifted to human, the sounds still as weird as they'd been to the younger him, but after years of using it and practising, he'd gotten quite good. Usopp sighed heavily by his side, before moving back underwater, probably knowing that he'd only catch a few words here and there as Luffy and Nami chattered.

As a seagull, Nami had picked up both bird and human over the years, knowing the handiness behind know what humans were saying about their surroundings, and though she wasn't proficient, she could speak a few words in mer.

Usopp, on the other hand, stubbornly refused to learn how to speak it, though he probably did understand a bit.

Even if he may have been one of Luffy's best friends, he hadn't been around when Luffy had first met Nami. If he had, their friendship may have started a bit differently, considering the first time Usopp and Nami met Nami had tried to eat him. Luffy smiled to himself at that memory; it certainly was an interesting way to start a friendship.

That was also when Usopp'd first learned that Luffy knew human, and after a panic attack that occurred when Luffy explained that he'd stayed alongside a human ship for _weeks_ Usopp had been half-threatened and half-begged into secrecy.

How often he must curse that promise now, when Luffy did stupid antics and explored forbidden ship wrecks.

"What's this called, Nami?" Luffy asked eagerly, moving his thoughts away from memories and back into the present again. He dripped droplets of sea water onto the reflector-thing as he tapped it.

Landing on the ground, the seagull hopped around Luffy's prize, her feathers ruffling slightly. "Humans use it to look at 'em selves. I think it's called a mirror."

"It can't be a mirror! Mirrors aren't solid like this."

"It's a _human _mirror," Nami said in that 'Luffy you're being an idiot' tone that she often adopted around the merman.

Luffy made a noise of understanding, heaving himself out of the pool to stare into it. He laughed, and the reflection mimicked him, throwing back Luffy's bright, sharp-toothed grin. "That's so cool!" He said excitedly, tapping against the mirror's surface, and Nami rolled her eyes, a look of fond exasperation on her features.

"Did you find me anymore coins?" She demanded, and Luffy nodded, digging around in the pouch he kept by his side to produce a shining collection of shimmery gold coins that he dumped on the mirror's silver surface. Nami grinned, shuffling them to her nest.

"What're they even used for?" Luffy asked curiously, resting half his body of the water to watch Nami hoard the gold coins into her nest, and Nami snorted.

"Humans use 'em to buy stuff. But I like them because they're so _pretty. _Besides, you never know if it'll come in handy to have all this stuff lying around, right?"

"Right!" Luffy chirped back, before powering off to the other side of the cave to grab an umbrella he'd found drifting in the middle of the ocean one day. "Like this! What if we need an umbrella? Or a music box! What if someone desperately _desperately_ needs this twirler-stick!"

Nami laughed at his antics, flapping her wings to get to the top of the cave, and with her feet she tapped a thick book with a dark brown, water-stained cover. "And how would you've learnt human if we didn't have this book here?"

"Exactly!" Luffy said, nodding his head frantically, and he swam back over to the outcropping, heaving his body out of the water to lie against the sandy floor.

Letting loose a loud sigh, the merman rested his head on his folded arms, and watched the roof of the cave, the faint edges of dark grey clouds through the small holes in the grotto's sides.

"Hey Nami," He started slowly, slightly questioningly, "How am I meant to learn more about humans now? I've gotten hundreds and hundreds of things, and you've already told me everything that _you _know. I want to know _more! _I want to know what having feet feels like, and being able to _dance! _What's it like to walk on the ground, or climb a tree or balance along the edge of rocks with _feet_?"

Nami fluttered to land on his bare chest, her expression stern and serious, and she tapped his forehead with one fluffy wing. "Oy! You think it's been easy learning human for you? I'm trying my best to pick it all up, and here you are, whining about not knowing enough? You've got a tail! Tails and wings are better than feet any day."

"But Nami-," Luffy tried to protest, sitting up to lean on his elbows, "You can't go on land with a tail! If you have feet you can do _both!_"

"No you can't! How're you meant to get to Atlantis with stupid human lungs, huh? They drown if they don't breathe air, but you can stay above the water or below it, whenever you want."

"I guess," Luffy mumbled, dropping back down to lay on the floor, and his chest rose and fell with his heavy sigh. "I just wanna know what _land _is like, though. I know every inch of this part of the ocean. I wanna know what it's like to stay above the sea! I wanna go exploring the whole wide _world!_"

"You can do that with a tail," Nami reminded him persuasively, but Luffy merely sighed again, and dislodged his winged friend, slipping back into the water. Carefully he removed his hat, placing it on the sandy floor of the outcrop, and gave her a small wave.

"I'll see you tomorrow," He said instead of replying, and Nami watched him worriedly, looking as though she wanted to speak again. Before she could, however, Luffy had darted under the waters, slipping out of the grotto with Usopp in tow.

Once they were far enough away from the grotto, Luffy stopped, Usopp continuing for a few strokes before he halted, swimming back to his friend. "You go along without me Usopp. I'll be along in just a minute!"

"You're gonna go and watch the ships in the storm again, aren't you?" Usopp demanded suspiciously, watching him with distrustful, narrowed eyes, and he probably caught the hint of Luffy's mischievous smile.

"_No_," He said, and Usopp sighed, looking to all the world like he wanted to try and drag Luffy with, to home and to safety.

Of course, this was one argument that they'd had for a long time, and there was never a single time that Usopp had ever managed to win, so he gave up before they even got started, saying with another sigh, "Alright, whatever. Just be careful, okay?"

Luffy's grin would've brightened the sea surrounding him, and he nodded. "Yeah yeah, I promise!" He quickly flicked his tail, turning his back on his friend, before arching and waving his goodbye.

Sighing again as he watched his friend's rapidly disappearing back, the small fish turned and headed back to Atlantis without Luffy by his side.

* * *

He felt bad for lying to Usopp, he really did, but he knew that the fish knew that Luffy was lying, so it wasn't _that _bad, right?

He wasn't even going near the humans! He was just watching out for Shank's ship among the sails that darted through the rain and the waves. It wasn't as though he were _really _doing anything bad, right?

Luffy could hear the shouts of the humans as they called to each other on their ships, their tiny bodies throwing ropes to each other and sails flapping in the stormy weather, and Luffy watched in fascination as they moved to calls and shouts, a hive mind that knew exactly what to do and where to be at the right moment.

The humans aboard the ship worked like a well-oiled machine, passing each other and barely faltering in their stride to give each other help, making sure their ship stayed alright in the storm.

Luffy's eyes were constantly drawn to one in a white, rain-drenched shirt, who heaved ropes and bought in sails and ran around the whole ship, working twice as hard as any of the other sailors. They seemed to take him as a constant; whenever a hand was needed, the man was there without a second thought, dragging people from the edges right before a wave would've pulled them overboard, lashing ropes to the side and holding the very ship together.

Luffy couldn't stop watching him with awe, moving closer to the ship to see more-

And that was why he was the only one who noticed that the man had tied ropes to all the crew's waists bar his own. He'd just done up the second to last when a blond man got knocked in the back by a barrel, sending him half-sprawling against the rails, and the other man (_he_ _had green hair!_ Luffy noted in surprise, _Green hair like **algae,**_) immediately leapt for him, using his momentum to tug him away from the edge.

All would've gone well, had a large swell not forced the ship to the side. The boom mast dropped and swung around to the side, and even as the blond man opened his mouth to cry out, the man with green hair was knocked overboard.

Luffy gasped, forcing himself out of the water further to try and see if the man came up, or if anyone went after him, but although the blond man tried to jump in, he was held back by the other members of the crew.

Slow, torturous seconds passed, dragging on, and the green-haired man didn't come up for air. Unable to hold back any longer, Luffy darted beneath the waves, desperation making him zoom through the wild currents at a speed he knew he wouldn't have been able to hold in normal circumstances.

Bubbles rose from where the man had fallen, and Luffy dived deeper, peering through the murky blackness to try and see where the man had gone, heart pounding in his throat; he'd committed himself to saving this man, now, but what if he couldn't? What if he didn't reach him in time?

_There! _The green-haired man came into view, sinking slowly, and Luffy poured on more speed, grabbing him beneath the arms before heading for the surface.

Luffy's powerful tail heaved both himself and the human upwards till he broke through the waves with a loud gasp, trying to support the human so that he didn't sink, and could still breathe.

A human_! _A _human! _Luffy's heart half-pounded in his chest, excitement making him heady, but panic and the knowledge that if he didn't get the human to land he'd drown meant he quickly powered his way through the storm, heading for the beach that the ship had started from. Tugging along the human was difficult with the strong currents, his feet knocking into Luffy's tail as he tried to swim through the waves, and the human's unresponsive body was heavy while weighed down with water.

His lungs burnt with the bitter human air by the time he finally dragged them both up to the shore, and he only just managed to get the human above the reaching grasp of the waves before his muscles turned to noodles, dropping him unceremoniously onto the sand.

It itched against his tail and skin, sticking as his chest heaved to get in more air, and it took a while until he could finally breathe properly. As he caught his breath, the storm began to abate, waves dying slowly to a more normal and manageable size, wind dropping as fast as it'd sprung up to smash into the ship.

Heaving himself onto his elbows, unwieldy tail dragging against the beach, Luffy lifted himself to stare at the human he'd saved, propping himself up on his elbows.

"It's a _human,_" Luffy exhaled reverently, brushing sand off of the sleeping creature's face with a soft awe. "It's a _human!_"

Excitement made Luffy's voice get louder, and the green-haired human groaned loudly, moving his head to the side. Luffy jumped slightly, surprised by the sound, but then peered closer, curiosity and interest in every inch of his body.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked carefully, poking the man in one cheek. The man groaned again, one arm coming up to cover his eyes and to try and swat away the inquisitive hand. "Hellloooo," Luffy called, moving even closer to the man, taking in green eyelashes and the faint, almost invisible sprinkle of freckles decorating his tanned features.

"_LUFFY!_" Nami's loud screech made Luffy look up to see his friend, before his sight was covered by feathers and a very enraged bird. "Are you _kidding me?! _You promise you'd keep yourself safe _and then you find a human and stare at him!?"_

Luffy yelped loudly, flailing to try and get Nami off of him, but the human gave another groan, this time the sound dissolving into a thick cough as he spluttered out water and rolled over. Both the bird and the mer froze for a second, staring at the human.

"Get in the ocean before I skin you _alive_," Nami hissed quickly in pure anger, and Luffy winced, rolling himself back down into the sea until he could get some buoyancy back and swim away from the beach.

He didn't go too far, however, no matter how many glares Nami threw his way, instead hiding behind a thick outcropping of rock as the man staggered to his feet, looking around in utter confusion.

"_ZORO!_"

The man turned-

And was met by a kick to the face.

"You jumped in the fucking ocean!"

Bending over backwards, the green-haired man – Zoro, _Zoro, Zoro, Zoro! _Luffy's mind repeated to itself in excitement – came back up shouting right back, "I didn't _jump_! Anyway, you were the one going to drown!"

"Yeah but I can _swim_ you fucktard!" Was that blond the one that Luffy had seen on the ship? That meant a few hours had passed, then; it didn't feel like it, but the adrenaline and exhaustion was probably deluding him.

"So can I!"

"Zoro, _you got knocked over the head!_"The blond raked a hand through his hair, skewing the strands, and grabbed a fire-striker from his pocket, flicking it to life and lighting the stick-y thing poking from his mouth. "It's a _miracle _that you're alive!"

Smoke curled from the blond's mouth, and Zoro glanced towards the ocean, the barest turn of his head that made Luffy quickly duck further behind the rock, in case he was spotted by either human.

"How'd you even get to the beach?" The blond questioned, and Luffy hesitantly peeked over the edge of the rock to see Zoro's shrug.

"Dunno. I think there was-" Zoro stopped, gaze flicking towards the ocean again, and this time the blond's head followed Zoro's eyes.

The blond's mouth curled into a smirk around his smoke-stick, and he cocked an eyebrow at Zoro. "What, don't tell me that you think you get rescuedby a _mermaid _or some shit like that."

"No way!" Zoro blustered, his cheeks turning the faintest red, and Luffy felt a weird stirring of something unnameable tickle uncomfortably inside his chest, "Only a shitty cook like you would ever think of getting rescued by a mermaid. They're not real."

The blond snorted derisively, and they started up the beach, their voices dropping away till Luffy could no longer hear their conversation.

At Nami's urging, he eventually forced his tired muscles to move, slipping off the rock and back into the ocean, heading for Atlantis.

* * *

**AN: You see what I mean about these getting really long? _THIS IS THE FIRST ONE AND THEY'VE ONLY JUST MET C'MON._**

**Also I would've had this up earlier but I have a report that's been killing me and I haven't had time to write anything really substantial. Sorry. VnV**

**Hopefully this'll tide you over until I can finish my report and get to writing again! ^w^**


	3. Chapter 3

The next week saw him perched on that rock again, watching the strange green-haired Zoro discreetly. While his friends may've thought he didn't know the meaning of the word, Luffy could be careful when he wanted to!

Zoro had yet to spot him, though the human spent hours looking out at the water, one hand shielding his face from the sun and eyes squinted to see further. How funny was it that the very being he was looking for was little more than a few meters away, watching him right back?

Usopp, on the other hand, was not nearly so calm watching a human. The look of awe and wonderment in Luffy's eyes was making an awful, apprehensive feeling curl around in his gut, like he'd accidently eaten rotten kelp, and when Luffy _sighed happily _he felt his heart jump.

Ohh nononono this was _so _not good!

Panic made him try and jump on Luffy's tail to get him to pay attention, but Luffy merely flicked him off, intently watching the green-haired monster. What if it looked over when Luffy was above the rock and saw them? What if it _TRIED TO EAT THEM!?_

Usopp silently prayed that his friend would move away-

But nope.

Now he just felt like bubbling. One of these days Luffy's antics were going to cause him to have a mental breakdown!

"Luffy, c'mon, _please,_" He begged, fins tapping along Luffy's tail, "It'll notice us!"

"Nahh," Luffy said, brushing Usopp off his tail with distracted ease, sending him tumbling in the water, "It'll be fine! He hasn't seen us yet, has he?"

"_Yet!_" Usopp half-screeched, trying to make Luffy see some _sense, _but the merman ignored him with an utter ease. Discomfort made him hold his tongue for a second, but desperation was a powerful motivator. "Luffy, if you don't stop watching him, I swear I'm going to tell Ace."

Luffy started, looking at him for the first time, eyes wide. "You promised!" He cried, sounding betrayed, but Usopp set his fins.

"I promised you I wouldn't say anything about collecting things, or learning human. This is _watching one! _It's _dangerous _Luffy!"

Luffy's lower lip quivered, and guilt welled up in Usopp, stinging and making him feel terrible – but he knew he'd feel even worse if his inaction caused Luffy to be caught by the human. "_Please _Luffy, let's just _go_. There's no point in watching him!"

Expression drawn and tight, Luffy slipped off the rock and into the water completely, swimming swiftly away from Usopp without even a goodbye.

Oh Mother of the Sea, he hoped he'd done the right thing.

* * *

The unfamiliar resentment Luffy felt in his chest made him curl in a tight ball, tail brushed by sea grass as Usopp swam past him with a downcast face. Why did his friend have to overreact so much?

Luffy had been _careful, _hadn't even let the green-haired human catch a look of his face – though that may've been more thanks to Nami more than himself. It was still a point that he _hadn't_!

A sigh made bubbles flutter from his lips, and Luffy listlessly popped one, scattering it into a hundred smaller ones, refracting the leering, half-lidded face of an _eel._

He almost yelled, reeling backwards from the pointed teeth, stretched wide into a grin.

"Helllo your _majesssty_," The creature purred, lazily flicking its tail and curling around where Luffy was sitting on the sandy ocean floor, staring at the eel in shock. "It's a _pleasssure._"

The eel chuckled, and Luffy's gaze tracked it, head turning to keep the animal in his sights. Eels were dangerous, their shocks easily able to stun even a large mer into stillness, and those shocks could stop their gills from filtering any oxygen, killing them through suffocation.

"Hi," He said carefully, flicking his tail till he was upright in the water again, ready to dart away or punch it if it tried to get him. "Did you need anything?"

"No, your majessty, that ssshould be _my_ quessstion," The eel's grin was kind of creepy, honestly, stretched wide to show the terrifyingly sharp teeth.

Luffy, however, was more preoccupied by the eel's words than its teeth. "Why?" He asked it, brow furrowed as he watched it.

"Well, it ssseemsss that you're having a little problem with the humansss."

"I don't!" Luffy said firmly, crossing his arms.

"Well then," The eel's grin grew wider, "Is it possssible you have a problem with the mer?"

"Nope," Luffy said, same strong tone to his voice, and the eel curled around him, slimy tail just brushing his shoulders and almost making him shiver at the slippery touch.

"Are you sssure? Becaussse you ssseem more like you'd want to be up _there_ than down here."

Luffy jolted, before he snorted derisively, resisting the urge to scrub at the bare skin. "No way. That's not possible, anyway."

A different voice, silky smooth and sweet, played through his ears, and fingertips brushed his shoulders, where the eel's tail had only just been earlier. "Oh, but it _is_."

Luffy whirled, taking in the sight of an _exceptionally _large lady with an _octopus tail. _Luffy's eyes went wide in his head, and he stared – he'd never seen a mer with a tail like an octopus's before.

"You see, I have a special sort of-," The octopus-lady tapped her red nail against her pursed lips, before smiling, showing teeth as pointed as the eel's next to him. "Magic, if you would. I can give you your heart's desire, if you wanted it." 

Luffy's brow furrowed, and he stared at her in confusion. "But I'm happy here."

"Ah, but haven't you said that you wanted to be human – to be free and to have feet? I can give that to you, if you want. Easy as one, two, three." She moved, circling him like her eel had been doing moments before, and Luffy followed after her, turning his body till he almost felt dizzy. "Wouldn't you like to be a human? To explore the whole wide world, and find treasures and have adventures you'd never have below the waters?"

"I-," he started, about to protest, but instead he stared at his clenched hands and the scales that decorated his knuckles. His tail flicked into his vision, and the burning _want _he'd always experience surged back in full force, like someone had unstopped the dam he built up between that longing and his mind.

It was almost as though her words had turned the key that he used to keep his yearning tightly bound, and with her words all he could remember were the days he spent in storms, watching humans aboard their ships and struggling to pretend that one day he'd sail like they did, wild and free above the waves.

He stared defiantly at the other mer, clenching his hands till his knuckles turned white. "I want to run and dance and _sail _like they do! I don't _want_ a tail anymore!"

She leaned her body along his own, propping her head on his shoulder, and Luffy could see from the corner of his eye the hint of a smile curling her lips. "Well, the beautiful Alvida could help you out with that, if you'd like," she offered, and her smirk stretched even wider.

Whisking her hand, a swirl of purple unfolded into a gleaming scroll right in front of him, tiny writing with rough flourishes to the letters. He reached for it, but the scroll darted away, Alvida following it.

"Ah-ah-ah," she tutted, shaking her finger at him, "First we have to discuss payment. You see, no-one works for free."

"What?" Luffy asked, brow furrowing again, "But I don't have anything. What am I meant to pay you with?"

Alvida's eyes looked cold, like frost along the shore's edge, and her grin didn't reach them. "Well, you see, I'd just like one thing from you. Just one itty bit thing."

Before he could blurt impatiently for her to just spit it out, Alvida moved the contract closer, a pen appearing in the water. "Your voice. Trade me your voice, and I'll give you legs."

Luffy's hand fluttered to his throat, fingertips brushing his Adam's apple, and he could feel his swallow. "My voice? But-"

"But?" Alvida asked teasingly, before she smiled again, patronisingly. "Oh you still want to talk, huh? Well," she tapped her fingernails against her chin as though she were considering something, and her voice dropped into a low purr that made Luffy shiver as though the waters around them had turned to ice, "If you can get the little green-haired human to fall in love with you, and give me his heart before two weeks is over, then you can stay a human forever _and_ I'll give you your voice back."

Alvida's grin leered closer to him, and Luffy shied away, wrinkling his nose slightly. "But if you can't…Well. Then you're mine."

Get someone to fall in _love_ with him? Love was an undefinable concept; it was something he just _felt_, like how he felt about Ace or Usopp or Nami- how was he meant to make someone _else _feel it?

And to give Alvida someone else's _heart-_

She couldn't possibly mean his literal heart, right?

"Tick-tock," Alvida said, and Luffy felt panic well up in him, desperation at the knowledge that his last chance to see _land _would be gone. "Going once, going twice-"

"_Deal_!" Luffy quickly shouted before she could finish, and grabbed the pen that floated by the contract, signing his name in blocky, messy letters.

"Luffy _no!_" Usopp yelled from behind him, and Luffy turned to see his friend frantically swimming towards him, obviously having doubled back to search for Luffy when the merman hadn't been seen at the borders of Atlantis.

"_Excellent,_" Alvida hissed, the contract vanishing again, and Luffy suddenly felt a _burn _tear up his tail, as though he'd gone to close to the heat vents in the ocean's floor. He slapped his hands over his mouth to prevent himself from crying out at the pain, and his tail went a painful, tingly sort of numb; he couldn't move a single inch.

Usopp reached them, a frantic panic on his features and Luffy opened his mouth the comfort his friend's fear; he swallowed water, choking on it like he'd never before, and thrashed, trying to get his gills to work-

But humans didn't have gills.

Usopp, seeing how he clutched at his throat, trying to breathe in air where there was none, smashed into his side, trying to force him towards the surface. Luffy grabbed onto his friend, desperately trying to struggle with him but barely able to move.

He couldn't feel his tail – he couldn't feel anything below his hips.

His lungs burned with the need to breathe when they finally hit the surface, and he immediately coughed up water, swallowing air and spluttering when they were hit by the swell.

The salt water made him feel sick, and Usopp struggled to get him to the beach, Luffy's unresponsive limbs barely able to keep him above the water. Finally, after torturously long moments of being battered by waves and fighting to get to the shore, Luffy felt his tail-

_Knees-_

_Feet-_

He staggered, bending _legs _beneath his body, and salt water streamed off him as he half-crawled, half-_walked _further from the reach of the waves.

He had _legs! He had legs!_

He felt like screaming his excitement, like the pure exhilaration he felt would bubble up from his lips, and turned to face the worried-looking Usopp, words of delight on his tongue-

But not a single sound came from his lips.

He blinked, his excitement fading as quickly as it came, and his quavering legs gave out beneath him, dumping him unceremoniously into the shallow waters again with a splash.

Luffy tried to click his tongue, or whistle, or pop or _anything-_

Nothing. Hand flying to his throat, he saw Usopp's look of horror, could _see _the bubbles and hear the clicks that Usopp made in his panic, but now he couldn't even understand most of what Usopp said, only just associating the words with Usopp's tail flicks and fin flickers.

Usopp's tail flicked to the sides as he worriedly swam back and forth in front of his friend, and Luffy tried to hold him comfortingly, but his hands had rough calluses where there used to be scales and Usopp flinched away.

"Luffy, Luffy, _Luffy_-" Was all he could understand from Usopp's panicked whistles, as the fish repeated his name over and over again.

With no way to properly communicate, Luffy stared at Usopp with wounded eyes, and could see how his unhappy disposition was reflected in his friend's own gaze.

Abruptly, Usopp's eyes lit up and he jolted to the side, looking for some way to explain to Luffy the idea he'd had. His fins rested against Luffy's leg comfortingly, cool against the flesh, and he then flung his fins out to the side, flapping them up and down.

Was he miming something-?

_Nami!_

Luffy frantically nodded his head, agreeing, and Usopp slipped further into the water, giving him one last worried glance before he zipped away, obviously trying to reach Nami as fast as he could. Nami could talk to him in human; even if Luffy couldn't reply, at least he'd be able to understand what they were saying to him.

Tentatively, he took his hands from the sand, running his fingertips across shins and kneecaps, wriggling his _toes. _

He had _toes._

Even if his mood now was soured and gloomy by the realisation that his impulsiveness may've cost him more than just a tail and the ability to breathe underwater, Luffy couldn't help the giggle that sprung to his lips as he stared at his new feet.

His laugh burst from his lips, and his hands moved faster now, exploring every new part of these human legs; ankles and toes and knees and _legs. _He had _legs!_

He was _human!_

He saw the 'v' of brushed aside water as Usopp skimmed beneath the surface, and flicked his gaze up to see Nami soaring above the waves.

Hey, she had his hat! And fabric, for some reason?

He grinned, waving at his friends, and Usopp glided to a stop, Nami dropping his hat and the fabric – which, as they settled, were revealed to be clothes from his grotto – into his lap and landing soon after.

"Luffy?" Nami asked cautiously, and Luffy grinned, nodding to show he'd heard her. Her expression of relief was palatable, and it soothed his guilt slightly, though that didn't last long. Her features swiftly morphed into one of anger once she realised he was okay, and her livid squawk made him quickly hide his head under his arms, knowing she'd gladly peck at his head for being, as she put it, 'so _stupid'_. "What were you _thinking_!? You traded your tail for _legs? _Are you _kidding_ me!?"

Luffy pursed his lips, trying to figure out how she wanted him to reply to that.

Actually, she probably didn't, all things considered; Nami had already continued her enraged rant.

"You can't breathe underwater now. You can't swim! Did you even think this through? Why can't you _speak_?" Nami gave a squawk, her words dissolving from human back to seagull in her rage, but she managed to calm herself, giving a half-groan, half-sigh as she watched him.

Her expression drew from her angry glare to one of taut, pained worry. "Oh _Luffy,_" she sighed, ruffling her feathers and watching him with concern in her eyes, "What have you _done_?"

Luffy shifted, feeling his happiness draining from him once again like the water through his now unwebbed fingers, and it was soon replaced with guilt at having caused that apprehension in his friends. Gently, he used his hand to stroke her frail head, and she sighed again, obviously trying to think of some way to get him out of the situation he'd managed to get stuck in.

"Alright, look. Humans wear clothes, right? So put those on for the mean time, and I'll figure out some way to fix you." Nami flexed her wing to point at the clothes in his lap, and, though her next words were more mumbled reassurances to herself, Luffy could still hear them, and the palpable worry. "You'll be fine. Usopp and I will figure it out."

As Nami muttered, Luffy squirmed into the clothes she'd bought him. The bright red vest was slightly too small, so he left it open rather than try and button it up, and he was pretty sure he had sand in his pants, but he supposed it was better than anything else.

Humans didn't really seem to like it when people went around without them on, which he personally thought was a bit strange. What was the problem with it? Mer didn't wear clothes and they got along just fine.

"Hello?"

The all froze, identical expressions of panic on their features, and Nami shared a frantic look with Usopp, before fluttering up and trying to shove Luffy into the ocean again. Realisation dawned on them at different times; Luffy first, Usopp next, Nami finally realising that trying to hide a human underwater wasn't the smartest idea – both because he now couldn't breathe beneath the waves, and because there was no reason for him to hide anymore considering that he was a proper human.

Because that's what he was now. He was _human_.

His hands rested against the weave of his hat, and Nami quickly flew away from him, just as the green-haired man that Luffy had saved last week came around the large rock Luffy'd been hidden behind.

Zoro stopped, blinking at the sight of him sprawled on the beach, and stared at Luffy. "Uh-," he started to say, trying to figure out what words to use, and Luffy grinned, waving one hand at the dumbstruck human.

"Are you- alright?" Zoro asked cautiously, looking more than a little bit shocked and confused by the fact that there was someone sitting on the beach with naught but a straw hat and a happy grin.

Luffy nodded, before trying to struggle to his new feet. Suffice to say, it didn't end well. He may've been fascinated with watching them and learning about them, but there was a difference between watching and actually _knowing _how to do something. His knees turned inwards and he plopped down on the sand again, slightly surprised at the fact he'd fallen.

Laughing at his own failure, he spotted Zoro move a bit closer to him, furrowed brow and confused look on his features. "You need a hand or something?"

Luffy screwed up his lips stubbornly, trying once more to stand, this time succeeding for a little while, but he went down again almost immediately when he tried to take a step. Zoro rolled his eyes, offering a hand down to Luffy, and the mer took it, using it to support him as he wobbled to his feet-

And almost fell down once more.

Zoro sighed in exasperation, using his hands to support Luffy's shoulders and preventing him from falling over again, and Luffy could see the gold flecks in his eyes, caught in an even stare. "Look, are you hurt? You're obviously not able to stand properly."

Luffy shook his head, but as he wobbled on his new feet, he saw Zoro's look of exasperation, and the hidden tone of concern that layered his voice. "You need some help. I'm going to carry you up to the castle and get the doctor to look at you, okay? Nod your head if you understand me."

Though he wanted to protest, Luffy couldn't exactly figure out how to walk in five minutes, and the concern in Zoro's voice was small but evident as he struggled to walk and move on his new legs.

_Get the green-haired human to fall in love with you._

He gnawed lightly on his lip before giving a little nod, and firmly plunked his hat onto his head. Zoro, seeing that he'd now agreed, squatted slightly before picking Luffy up, cradling his body close.

He could feel the human's heart in his chest, a steady thump from where his arm was pressed into Zoro's torso, and he gave a little shiver at the sudden cold wave that went through his body in a rush.

_And steal his heart._

What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

**AN: I FORGOT TO POST THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO LEFT COMMENTS ON THE FIRST CHAPTER I AM _SO SORRY. _I was in a bit of a rush to upload it, and it completely flew my mind! My apologies, and my heartfelt, adoring thanks to a84vpszy for their two reviews, somefangirl, darkspider, Nezkov Sou, Iany-chan, BlantantBookworm, and my unnamed guest for their reviews on chapter one!**

**Also, super special thanks to the gorgeous flitewulf, for their sketches of 'lil baby mer!Luffy. **

**I really really appreciate all of your encouragement and compliments! This is actually my first foray into writing a longer-chaptered romance work for a _really _long time, so having so many people tell me to hang in there was really appreciated. Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! **


	4. Chapter 4

Sand shifted beneath Zoro's bare feet as he headed towards the castle, carefully balancing the boy in his arms as he walked. The strange boy was playing with the trailing edge of his pant's hem, picking at it distractedly, and Zoro, though he still watched where he was going, couldn't help but study him. A feeling of familiarity ate away at him, as though he should recognise the person he held, but for the life of him, he couldn't seem to remember where he possibly would have seen the boy before.

"Oy," he started, and the boy glanced up, an honest curiosity in his dark gaze. "Do I know you?"

The boy nodded eagerly, brim of his strawhat brushing Zoro's shoulder as he did so, and then proceeded to try and mime something, his hands flying as though it would help Zoro understand.

Fully unprepared for the sudden squirming, Zoro yelped and stumbled, shifting his grip to compensate for the movement. He only just managed to prevent himself from accidently dropping the boy, and hearing that made his passenger stop, looking at him in curiosity. "Can't you speak and tell me that way?" Zoro groused, a grumpy frown pulling at his lips as he stared at the boy, unamused by his flailing.

The boy's expression dropped, and Zoro felt the heavy sigh that drew through the boy's body when his gaze flicked to his pant hem again.

"So you can't talk, huh?"

The boy gave a short nod, agreeing, and his eyes flicked away, to his feet again. Still, he recovered quickly, shaking his head as though to make the thoughts Zoro's question brought up go away, giving Zoro another grin.

Well, at least he was open. It actually wasn't too difficult for Zoro to read the boy's body language, and it wasn't as though the boy couldn't understand what Zoro was saying, so he'd most likely be alright.

"Well, I'll get the castle's doctor to look at you. Fix you up in no time."

The boy looked at him for those words, brow furrowed, and for all that Zoro could read this boy's body language like he was a book, the expression hiding in his eyes was something that he just couldn't seem to figure out.

That expression, however, was gone almost as fast as it came, and the boy graced him with another wide and unassuming grin, back to trying to excitedly mime something with his hands – though thankfully, this time, it came without the boy attempting to wriggle excitedly.

He took his earlier statement back.

Trying to survive this guy was probably going to be _very_ difficult. People with boundless limits of energy had never been his strong point.

* * *

Why was he heading towards the village?

Luffy paused in attempting to see if Zoro would be able to figure out what he was saying when he only spoke with his hands to look around, scratching the back of his head.

Hadn't he said that they'd be heading towards the castle to see a doctor? While Luffy could argue that he certainly didn't need a doctor – in fact, he highly doubted that a human doctor would even be able to _do_ anything – he still figured that if Zoro said they were going someplace, they were probably going to go to that place.

_Are you lost? _He wanted to ask, and would've done so, but one again the words he wanted to say lay trapped on his tongue, as though glued there.

Geeze, getting used to not talking was even harder than he'd thought.

At that moment, however, Zoro seemed to realise that they were not where he wanted them to end up, and stopped, looking around with a frown. "The hell?" He mumbled, and Luffy tried to stop himself from grinning and laughing; Zoro _was _lost!

Zoro caught his amused beam and frowned even more, but luckily for the two of them, the blond from the beach came out of the shop in front of them, balancing baskets of food in his arms.

The blond looked a bit shocked for a moment, staring at the two of them like he hadn't expected their sudden arrival, before rolling his eyes and shifting the bags in his grip. "You got lost _again_? Do I have to babysit you every goddamn minute you shitty marimo head?"

Zoro screwed up his face and glowered, "Shut up, stupid dartbrow."

Luffy stared curiously at the man across from them. He'd only seen Zoro close up before, and not the man that Zoro'd originally rescued from being knocked overboard; now he eagerly took in the details of his appearance.

Also, he was carrying food. Good enough reason to pay attention, honestly.

"Why the hell are you carrying around a kid?"

About to open his mouth and protest being called a kid, Luffy suddenly spotted the curl to the blond's eyebrow, and his eyes opened wide in amazement. Slowly, a wide, amazed grin spread across his face, and though he tried to resist the urge, he still attempted to open his mouth and speak.

_Damn not being able to talk_, he thought when the words didn't come_, this is so **annoying**_!

"I was taking him to the castle. Stupid guy couldn't even stand up on his own."

Okay he may not've been able to speak, but he could still understand them. Luffy poked his tongue out at Zoro childishly, and heard an amused snort from the curlybrowed blond. (And if that wasn't enough to keep him completely and utterly fascinated with humans and their strange appearances, _nothing _would.)

"That why he's not talking?"

Zoro shrugged, and the blond sighed, rolling his eyes again. "Well, I'm heading up with the food cart now. Hurry up and get in, shitty prince."

_What. _

"Don't order me around, shit cook." Zoro said, but followed after the blond, leaving Luffy to his shell-shocked thoughts.

_Prince._

_Prince? _

_Zoro's a prince?!_

Luffy's distracted musings were drawn to a very sudden, extremely confused stop, and he felt his heart almost stop beating in his chest. _Zoro's a **prince**?_

And that just made everything he had to do ten times harder.

He probably had people lining up around the block asking for his hand in marriage, or trying to get him to fall in love with them! If he were royalty the likelihood of Zoro even paying attention to him after making sure Luffy wouldn't keel over was slim.

The task he'd agreed to had already seemed difficult as he thought over it, as he tried to figure out how to get someone to fall in love with him when he didn't love _them, _but when he added in Zoro's new found heritage-

Trying to get someone who was _royalty _to fall in love with him would be almost _impossible! _Especially now that he couldn't use his voice – how on Earth was he meant to get Zoro to pay attention him when he couldn't speak or keep his interest?

No. Luffy violently tried to shove his depressing thoughts to the back of his head, pushing them away till they stopped threatening to overwhelm him. He couldn't think like that.

He still had more than enough time to get Zoro to like him; two weeks was plenty of time, right?

Carefully, Zoro placed him on the wooden seat of the cart, but Luffy, so lost in his own thoughts, barely even noticed.

_Steal his heart._

Luffy gave a little flinch as the words of the sea witch came back to him.

"You alright?" Zoro asked him, a furrow creasing his brow as he spotted Luffy's wince and the distracted frown on Luffy's face, and Luffy jumped, surprised by the words.

He grinned reassuringly, shoving those thoughts to the back of his mind and Zoro climbed into the cart next to him, the blond snapping reins and urging the horses hitched to the front forwards.

"Oy, shitty marimo. You gonna introduce me, or you just gonna be rude?"

Zoro's inquisitive look lingered for another moment, long enough to almost make Luffy want to shift on his seat guilty, but Zoro's face turned away and Luffy almost sighed in relief. "That shithead up front is Sanji. I'm Zoro."

_Well I knew that already. _

_Of course it's kind of his – Sanji's (wow, he's got a pretty cool name Sa-n-ji. And he has food! Mmm...) _

_Sanji's fault I knew that but I still knew that. How do I tell you my name though? That's kind of hard. Eh, whatever. I'll figure something out._

"Prince Zoro you fucking idiot."

"It's not like I care."

"Yeah but you still have to say it, for god's sake."

"I don't want to," Zoro said sounding slightly petulant, and Luffy sniggered, feeling a grin stretch his features.

Zoro turned to him for that, expression almost seeming surprised by the sound, and that slightly startled look on his face made Luffy laugh even louder.

"I like him already," Sanji remarked, when he heard Luffy giggling at Zoro, and the cart trundled up the bumpy path towards the castle.

Taking the cart made the journey a lot quicker than it would've been on foot, even if Zoro hadn't gotten them lost, and soon they arrived at the castle. Though they bypassed the large gates with no problems, instead of going up to the main stairs, Sanji steered the horses around to a smaller door around the back.

No matter how small it was, it was still a wondrous thing to the former mer. Atlantis didn't have doors, per say; there were curtains of kelp encouraged to grow in doorways for privacy, but doors were a fully human invention, one he now found himself fascinated with. As Sanji hopped off the front seat and swung open the door, calling inside for others to help him unload the cart, Zoro swung himself from the cart too.

He forgot again; Luffy tried to stand with them, to get a closer look at the door. Wobbling on his feet and grasping the wood of the bench with one hand, Luffy almost fell and Zoro had to move quickly from the side he was on, just barely managing to catch the dark-haired teen before he took a step and went sprawling into the dirt.

"You _idiot,_" Zoro cursed angrily, hauling Luffy so that he could stand properly instead of half-lean against the human's chest, and the tight grip on his biceps almost made Luffy wince, had he not realised he'd probably worried the prince. He tried to plaster an apologetic look on his face, vaguely realising that this was probably how Ace felt whenever his brother had done something a little silly and the Council told him off for it.

Zoro sighed heavily, sounding irritated, and bent again, scooping Luffy into his arms again. "For God's sake," he mumbled under his breath, stalking towards the open door and pausing as he figured out how to get through without accidently hitting his companion's head or feet on the door frame.

As they passed it, Luffy craned his neck to see the metal hinges that the door was inlaid on. Though he didn't know the word for them, the sight still utterly captivated him, and he wanted to reach out a hand to touch them – however Zoro moved straight past without stopping, passing through a place that was filled with the most _wonderful _smells.

Luffy wouldn't have minded staying in there for longer, either.

Still, Zoro continued onwards and Luffy felt like pouting, knowing he'd have to find his way back there somehow.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him; now that he was human, and staying around this human, maybe he'd get to try _human food! _

He could feel the excitement and anticipation buzz like they'd filled him to the brim, and he wished he could figure out how to walk-

There were so many _things_ he could _do_! He may've traded his tail and voice for legs, but he'd be lying if he said he regretted it. The chance to be a human, even if just for a little while, greatly outweighed what would happen to him if he failed to uphold his end of Alvida's bargain.

All the human objects, ones he'd never seen – or even heard of before! – filled every inch of the palace he could see, and surrounded by grandeur that almost seemed to match the palace in Atlantis, Luffy's head practically swivelled as he looked around, eyes wide. Zoro chuckled, finally loosing the taut anger that'd previously held him stiff, and the sound moved from his chest through Luffy's arm.

Luffy looked at him curiously for the sound, cocking his head to the side in a silent question.

"Never been in a palace before, huh?" Zoro asked, inclining his head as people passed them by, bowing when they spotted Zoro.

_Nah, it's just different than the one I'm used to._

He kind of wished he could properly reply to Zoro's questions and comments, because just answering the prince in his mind wasn't nearly as fun as having a conversation with him would be, but he supposed he'd just have to make do. Making his way up a set of spiralling stairs, Zoro finally stopped in front of an obtuse looking door, plain and simply fashioned. Tapping with his foot against the dark wooden door in front of them, Zoro waited semi-impatiently for it to open, before brushing past the dark-haired woman who opened it for them.

Turning, he half-held out Luffy in front of him, saying as he did so, "Oy, Robin."

"Yes, your highness?"

Zoro's expression soured at the use of the title, but Robin's, if anything, grew a tiny bit more gleeful and amused at that.

"Give him a look. He can't talk, and he's not walking right, either."

"No?" She asked quizzically, and Zoro gave a short nod of affirmation. Robin pulled out a chair, a silent agreement, and Zoro crossed the room, placing Luffy carefully onto the seat.

Hesitant though he was to leave the comfort of being carried, Luffy couldn't help but look around in a fascinated interest at all the different books and labelled jars that decorated the walls. Robin's room had hundreds of objects in it; enough even to rival the things in his grotto!

Shooing Zoro, Robin made flicking motions with her hands, though she made certain not to touch the prince. "Now you need to get out. I refuse to do anything with someone hovering."

"I don't _hover," _Zoro protested under his breath, giving her a sharp and grumpy look, but he left the room anyway.

The turning of the key in the sudden silence seemed louder than should have been possible.

Luffy turned to see the doctor drop the brass key into her pocket, and Robin faced him, catching him under a knowing gaze. "I know a lot of things," the dark-haired doctor said, and with her eyes she practically pinned him to his seat, voice dangerous when she next spoke. "And I know when someone's under a spell."

Luffy felt his throat close up, almost as though he'd been frozen, and he wasn't sure if she'd cast her own spell or if his panic was stopping him from moving.

"What are you?" She asked him quietly, steps clicking against the floor, and she peered at him intently. Luffy tried to grin innocently, knowing that she likely wouldn't buy his smile.

_Steal his heart. _

Robin clicked her tongue, leaning away, and Luffy almost gave a sigh of relief, glad that the inspection was over with. She sat elegantly, perched on the table and still too close for comfort, but at least she wasn't staring at him so keenly anymore. "I presume the spell you're under makes it so you can't talk?"

It wasn't as though he wouldn't be confirming anything she didn't know; Luffy nodded, and Robin tapped her nails against the table, her face turning thoughtful. "Does it make it so you can understand human, as well?"

Luffy shook his head, _no._

"So obviously you're a changed species that can understand human, then."

A secretive, proud grin grew on his face, and Robin's own features turned placating and understanding, the tiniest knowing smile pulling her lips like she understood what he was hiding. "No? So you learnt it yourself? How commendable. Not many can do that, if they aren't from a species that teaches both originally."

Luffy grinned even wider at the praise, pulling his hat a bit further onto his head, and Robin's eyes flicked towards it, looking as though she were piecing clues together.

"Can you write human?" She asked curiously, but Luffy shook his head. "So I suppose I wouldn't be able to ask you to write your name, then. If I say letters would you be able to spell your name?"

He paused, thinking it over, and sucked on the inside of his lip. Luffy wasn't even a hundred percent he could even spell his name in human, honestly. Even just trying to communicate it to Shanks all those years ago had been hard, and he'd been able to speak then.

Mer and Human were inherently different, and he'd had enough difficulties figuring out how he'd say it in human to Shanks, let alone how he'd spell it.

Luffy shrugged and Robin looked faintly disappointed. _Sorry, _he wanted to say, opening his mouth to form the words, before huffing in irritation as he realised that he wouldn't be able to.

Robin's expression went back to one of bemusement as she saw his annoyance, and she paused thoughtfully. "So you traded your voice to be human, hm? You are a bit idiotic, I hope you realise. These types of spells don't come so cheaply, if you want them to last forever. Is it to last forever? What have you agreed to do in exchange for living the rest of your life as a human?"

Luffy heaved a deep breath, blowing it out in frustration and trying to tell her that saying those many questions would likely mean he'd never be able to answer them, but she seemed to catch the hint, her expression becoming slightly apologetic.

"Sorry, I suppose that may have been too many to answer, yes?"

He nodded, and she sighed again, tapping her fingertips against the wood of the table. They made faint tapping sounds, and Luffy watched the slightly hypnotic motion, startled when she spoke again after the period of silence. "Will you hurt anyone trying to keep your end of the spell's bargain?"

Luffy hesitated, once again trying to open his mouth and speak, but this time he shut it before he could attempt to force words out. He swallowed, and licked his dry lips, and could feel his fingers twitch in towards his palm.

(_Make someone fall in love with you, and then rip out their heart, break their heart, steal their **heart, **and you don't think it'll be painful-_)

_Maybe, _he thought, and steeled his gaze, meeting her look with one of his own that very clearly said 'no.' He gave his head a quick shake, before shrugging and this time forcing his innocent smile into a more relaxed grin in an effort to convince her.

Robin nodded, and this time a much larger smile blossomed on her cheeks, making her look much less scary than she had previously. "Then I'm sure we'll get along perfectly well."

* * *

**AN: This chapter was titled in my documents; **Chapter 4 (cliché romance moment? Check.) I'm not 100% happy with it (it was actually meant to be a _lot _longer,) because I wanted to get more plot out of the way, but it hit 3k and I was feeling really guilty about not having posted for ages, sooo...Yep! Would you prefer it if I went longer chapters and more time or the same as what I've done here? Because school's been back on and I've been working like crazy to make sure I don't fail, which means a heck of a lot less time for writing (especially writing chapters b/c I'm _sooo _bad at long fics I have mentioned this before. I'm trying like crazy to finish this before I get bored!). ****

****Anyway, no-one really wants to read the struggles of a lazy/exceptionally busy author. Let's get onto the fun bit! Thanks _so much _to the gorgeous Rinka, and the wonderful BlantantBookworm for leaving me reviews! VuV /you feed my life blood and interest, my precious reviewers. whispers bye the way offering me cookies is amazing oh my gosh I love you for it cookies are _awesome. _****


	5. Chapter 5

Hours after that conversation, and Luffy still couldn't help but mentally thank Robin for her help. Because of her, he'd been allowed to stay inside the palace, and been given a legitimate excuse to hang around Zoro more often.

When she had smiled, she'd subtly signalled the end of their conversation, though Luffy hadn't caught it; she'd crossed the room and opened the door before Luffy could really catch his balance again, still off put by the conversation they'd had. Zoro was outside the door, fist raised to knock. She gave him a charming smile, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

Luffy had been left alone, hesitantly standing again from the chair and resting most of his weight on the table as he shakily practised trying to walk, and though he was sure Robin didn't mean for him to hear – or maybe she did; Robin was confusing – he could catch the faint strains of their conversation through the door.

"Well?" Zoro had demanded, tone louder than Robin's calm and steady one.

"Physically, he's fine. His inability to walk is really mainly tied into his psyche, but I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough. Accompanying him, however, would probably be a good idea. He may get tired often, and I'm sure he would appreciate company that he has already become familiar with."

"Did you figure out why he can't talk?" Zoro asked, voice no longer as demanding, and Luffy concentrated, forcing his feet to move (though the frustration over not having any ease of movement made him frown) while he distractedly listened in on their conversation.

"Yes, Your Highness. I will be working on a way to potentially fix it."

Was Robin lying for him? She wasn't telling Zoro _why _he couldn't talk…But how would that help her? Why didn't she immediately recommend Zoro kick him out of the palace once she found out he was cursed? For that matter, why hadn't she called the alarm or anything like that when she first knew he had a spell on him?

"But may I recommend keeping him here? I'd like to keep an eye on him, if that's possible. Besides, I'm sure having some less insulting company will surely keep you amused." Robin was really the only one who sounded amused to Luffy's ears, but Zoro made a quiet sound of agreement, the lilts of their conversation fading even further until they'd stopped altogether and both had come back into the room.

Zoro had rushed at him then, a furrow in his brow at seeing Luffy standing, but Robin laid a palm in front of him, and Luffy's painless grin must have convinced him that nothing was wrong, because he'd stopped and instead tried to offer his own faltering smile. Luffy had grinned even wider, at seeing that, and then they'd gone to explore the palace – Zoro's palace.

The place was _huge! _Luffy would be amazed if he didn't get lost within the first day left by himself, and was silently glad that although he'd slowly managed to get the hang of walking rather than swimming Zoro had yet to leave him alone.

Though Zoro had managed to get them lost (he denied it, but Luffy had seen the embarrassed flush that crawled up his neck) while he was showing Luffy around, they had both still managed to get to the kitchens in time for _food, _and at that point Luffy had been very glad that he could walk – he doubted Zoro would have been able to carry him, with how excited the prospect of tasting human food had made him.

_Clack! Clack clackclack clack!_

The sharp tapping sound from his window made Luffy snap from his remembrance of the day's events, head jolting up as he looked around for the source of the noise before spotting Nami. Slipping off the bed and staggering to the window, Luffy opened the door leading out to the balcony, Nami immediately fluttering inside. Though learning to walk had been difficult and made his feet ache in a slow burn of agony, he figured it was just his body getting used to an entirely new way of moving around, and at the moment he didn't really care – being able to move around freely, even with pain, was better than being constantly carried everywhere, and it allowed him the freedom to let his friend into the room Zoro had given him without being questioned by anyone.

"Usopp told me what you did," were the first words from Nami's beak when she landed inside his room, claws clacking against the wood of the drawer as Luffy huffed and went back to the bed, plopping onto it with no small sigh of relief. "How are you going to get someone to fall in love with you in _two weeks?_"

Did she know about the heart? Maybe Usopp hadn't mentioned it. Did Usopp even know that he'd ended up agreeing to trade someone's heart for the ability to walk?

Luffy's stomach churned at that thought, the blunt horror behind it finally hitting him in full force, and he pushed the back of his hand against his mouth, trying to calm his rebelling stomach. He'd traded someone's _heart! _He'd agreed to steal someone's _heart _so that he could _walk._

Nami fluttered to him worriedly, hopping around him as he bent over and tried to prevent himself throwing up, but there was very little she could do as he panicked. Forcing himself to keep breathing past the clench around his throat, Luffy squeezed his eyes shut and slowly managed to force his stomach to settle. Though he was breathing heavily, he was once again under control of his panicked thoughts.

"-ffy-? _Luffy_?" Nami repeated again worriedly, feathertips soft against his dark skin, and Luffy finally blinked from his anxious, nauseating thoughts to realise that the seagull must have been trying to get his attention for some time, for that level of worry to enter her voice. "Look, okay, I'll figure something out. Don't you know me? I always do. And even when you do some crazy shit like this, we all manage to pull through, don't we? So don't panic. We'll fix it."

Luffy gave a soft, breathy chuckle, and saw her eyes snap onto it, tensing as she stopped to stare at him. Seeing that he had recovered from his previous moment of panic, she breathed a sigh of relief, feathers finally smoothing. _Sorry Nami, _he tried to mouth, and saw her roll her eyes, fluttering back up to her spot on the desk.

"Whatever, Luffy. I hope you remembered that with you being gone for two weeks, Ace is gonna blow a gasket. He'll probably ground you for something like a gazillon years when you get back to normal and he finds out you were up _here._"

_Oh shit, Ace, _came his first thought upon hearing his brother's name, and he could tell by Nami's squawk that his emotions were clear on his face.

"You _forgot, _didn't you! Oh for God's sake Luffy, did you think _any _of this through?!"

_Food, _he mouthed, giving her a cheeky grin, and heard her give a very loud groan of exasperation.

"Go the hell to sleep before I put you there myself, you damn nuisance. You do your part to get this stupid human to fall in love with you, and Usopp and I will work on whatever we can to get this fixed up from our side, too. Usopp can keep Ace off your fins-," Nami paused, feathers ruffling as she stared at Luffy's feet, and he obligingly wiggled his toes for her, seeing the bird try not to gag. "Feet? Till this all gets back to normal."

Giving his friend a tiny nod, Luffy gently placed his straw hat next to Nami and curled up on top of the bed, the exhaustion of the day finally hitting him and lulling him into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Waking up the next morning felt a bit disjointed – he was usually woken up early for breakfast by Ace (which usually consisted of bird, any large dead sea creature, like a shark, or seaweed,) before his brother had to deal with all his kingdom-y things. Not being woken up left him blinking awake in the sunlight instead, frowning in confusion at the gauzy material that hung from what looked like dark wood. He stretched out, curling his toes-

All the events of yesterday rushed back to him, and Luffy bolted up right, (making Nami let out a loud squawk as she was disturbed from her makeshift nest,) throwing off the blankets that covered his legs.

It hadn't been a dream – he really had been turned into a human!

He stretched out his legs before him, taking the same delight in wriggling his toes as he had yesterday, but his glee was quickly cut short by a sharp peck to his head. "Luffy damnit, are you going to do this _every _morning?"

The former mer pouted at Nami, batting his eyes for extra effect, but she merely huffed and fluffed her feathers, settling down on the desk rather than on his bed.

What was he meant to do now? Luffy mused to himself, letting his eyes go over the room he'd only had a passing view of last night in the dark. With how careful he was going to have to be around the humans to avoid getting kicked out of the castle, and losing any hopes he had whatsoever for winning Zoro's heart, he figured that even if his patience chafed, it would be better to wait for someone to come and get him.

Luckily for both of the room's occupants (Nami had started to watch Luffy worriedly as he began to fidget more often), there was a knock at the door before he could get fed up with waiting.

He practically bounded from the bed when he heard the sound, and when he threw the door open and was greeted with Zoro's surprised face, it became obvious to him that the green-haired prince hadn't expected the door to be ripped open quite so suddenly. Still, Zoro recovered well, smoothing the surprise from his features and indicating down the hall. "Sanji sent me to get you for breakfast. Hungry?"

Luffy nodded eagerly, darting past Zoro and out into the hall, ignoring the sudden sharp pang that his feet sent through his legs at the movement; they were probably still adjusting. Being on land was different than being underwater. He could feel a heavy drag almost constantly, instead of the weightless buoyancy of water.

Zoro once again seemed taken aback by his enthusiasm, but followed after with little protesting, and though Luffy almost got lost he managed to find the kitchen again with relative ease – he gave up at one point, (refusing to take Zoro's directions when he realised that the green haired prince was making them go around in circles) and had wandered around following his nose until it lead to the kitchen.

Sanji waved at him with a spatula once the two of them had managed to enter the homey and warm space, barely looking up from the meal he was preparing to spare the two of them the time of day, but that suited Luffy just fine. He eagerly poked around the little nooks and crannies until Sanji forcibly pushed him towards the table with his leg, a frown on his face as Luffy explored _everything _in the room. "I'm making omelettes for breakfast, so just sit your shitty ass down and don't interrupt me, got it?"

_This is the greatest place in the castle, _Luffy thought reverently, sighing in absolute happiness as he watched Sanji whirl around the kitchen, knives a silver flash in his hands as he cut up meat and placed in front of the two of them a plate of-

_FISH, _his mind shrieked in a loud panic, horror marring his face. His _friends _were fish! Almost autopilot he tried to flail backwards, forgetting about the stupid _gravity _that was present on land. His chair tipped backwards, startling him as he went with it, and it was only Zoro's quick lunge across the table to grab his wrist that prevented Luffy's skull from cracking into the floor.

"The _hell_?" Zoro cursed, sliding bodily across the table to check if Luffy was alright and just barely missing the plate of fish that Luffy eyed with no small look of trepidation. "Are you _trying _to end up back with Robin?" Zoro released his wrist once he was sure that Luffy had his feet under him again, gingerly turning the limb as though inspecting it for injury, but Luffy grabbed Zoro's chin to face him.

'_Sorry,_' he mouthed slowly, hoping he'd picked the right human word for the situation.

Zoro frowned for a moment, looking almost confused, and Luffy began to think he'd used the wrong one (_oops, _he thought to himself,) but then Zoro's expression seemed to change slightly – instead of confusion over what word he'd said, it seemed to be confusion over why he'd said it.

Trying to think of something that would get rid of the tense stillness that hung around the kitchen, Luffy remembered what Nami had told him last night as she tried to formulate a plan to get him back to 'normal'; _do your part to get him to fall in love with you._

What exactly was 'his part'? Did he have to nod and agree with everything Zoro said? Because Luffy could see how that'd get _really _boring after a while. What did suitors usuallydo when they tried to win _Ace's_ affections?

Casting his mind back to the last time someone had tried to 'woo' Ace, Luffy felt something like a mental light-bulb ignite above his head. _Aha! _He could do _that._

Tugging Zoro's wrist, he pressed a feather-light kiss to the man's knuckles flicking his eyes up and giving the prince a small smile. Hopefully he'd done alright, he thought slightly worriedly when Zoro froze – he wasn't sure about this whole 'wooing' thing. Didn't humans have their own weird customs when it came to how they flirted and acted around people they wanted to win the affection of?

Luffy had to blink, though, as red scoured the prince's cheeks. Was Zoro…_blushing_? Luffy knew that he got flustered easily, especially judging by how embarrassed he was at getting lost in his own castle, but this was just hilarious!

Of course, what _wasn't _hilarious was the frozen looks on both Sanji and Zoro's faces. He glanced worriedly between them, his grin fading, uncertain of what he'd down wrong, but then Sanji laughed uproariously, turning to Zoro and insulting him about the light red visible under his tan.

Luffy glanced between them both, still confused about the reaction he'd caused, but silently soothing any worries he had under the promise of food and the knowledge that if he'd done something irreversibly bad, than Zoro and Sanji would likely have kicked him out of the kitchen already.

Still, while Sanji was distracted he grabbed the plate of fish in the centre of the table and, silently mourning the poor creatures, secreted it away underneath the table to collect and give back to the ocean at a later time.

* * *

When Luffy didn't show up for an afternoon, Ace wasn't worried. His younger brother was an avid explorer (much like he wished he could be) and Luffy knew how to take care of himself.

When his younger brother didn't show up for breakfast, however, he was slightly more worried. Luffy had never – _ever _– skipped a meal, not when they had access to them, and breakfast was sometimes the only time of day when the two of them would even get to talk to each other, depending on what either of them had to do during the day.

Though he tried to tamp down on his anxiousness, worrying that Luffy would get stroppy if he snapped at him for being late, by the time lunch rolled around Ace was a bundle of nerves and both the council members and the dignitary from Italy – Marco, Ace was pretty sure his name was – had completely given up on making Ace pay attention.

He practically disappeared in a trail of bubbles to see if he could find Luffy, rocketing through the castle and checking all of his brother's favourite haunts, and when he finally slowed, having been unable to find his brother anywhere, he spotted Usopp chattering away with Chopper, mouth moving a mile a minute.

The young mer king immediately bolted for the small fish, looming behind his brother's friends and making Chopper yelp quietly before he waggled his fins and tried to bow. Ace waved his hand, showing he'd seen the other young fish's attempt, but his laser like attention had already fastened onto Usopp. "Where's Luffy?"

Usopp practically jumped out of his scales, spinning around in surprise, and Ace could see the fish's mouth open and close wordlessly. From the corner of his eyes he could see that Chopper had quietly excused himself from the conversation, but all of his attention was focused on Usopp.

"_Well?_" he demanded, when Usopp didn't look likely to speak, and Usopp gave a quiet yelp before spitting out,

"He- he- foundaguyhereallylikes-like_like_likesandisjustgonnahangwithhimforalittlewhileifthat'sokay!"

_Are you_ _breathing?_ Ace thought to himself silently as he heard Usopp's panicked words, and he frowned slightly, trying to decipher Usopp's rushed words. "He likes a _guy?_" he questioned, staring at Usopp in undisguised shock when he finally figured out what he thought Usopp was trying to say, and saw the little fish flinch back, fins flickering. "I mean- I- uh-? I'm glad for him. But can't I meet this guy?"

Usopp immediately began to shake, stuttering out, "N-n-nope, sorry your kingliness-" and Ace narrowed his eyes slightly, suspicious – he knew his brother's friend was often fearful around him, (considering his kind-of kingly status) but honestly, this was an overreaction!

Usopp never acted like this, unless he was…trying to hide something. "Usopp," Ace said threateningly. "Why can't I meet this guy?"

"Uh- uh-," Usopp flailed, (as much as he could underwater,) and the young fish's eyes darted everywhere but at Ace. "Because Luffy doesn't want you to!"

"Why _not_?" he asked, voice half a demand, (and stubbornly refusing to pout,) because he was ninety percent sure something was going on, and even if his brotherly pride was wounded over being potentially cut out, he still couldn't help but be suspicious of Usopp's question-dodging.

He could practically hear Usopp's brain repeat _don't say it, don't say it, don't say it! _but when Ace levelled another glare, the fish squeaked and darted away, vanishing in a trail of bubbles.

There was a moment of frozen shock, as bubbles tickled his nose and Usopp's tail vanished around the corridor, and then Ace lunged after the fish, scales flaring a bright red instead of their usual gold. "_USOPP!_" he shouted, "_GET BACK HERE AND TELL ME WHERE MY BROTHER IS!_"

* * *

**AN: Usopp you're kind of bad at thissss.  
****I was going to wait to upload this chapter till I had a few more stocked up, but then I realised that today (for me at least) iS THE FIFTH  
****AND THIS IS THE FIFTH CHAPTER -sparkles hands in direction of chapter-  
****So yep.  
****Anyway, chapter six and seven are partway written, so hopefully I can get 6 up by Friday? (I would like to able to upload it tomorrow but that is sooo not happening. I'm going to just be happy with chapter 5 on the fifth). If all goes the way I've planned it, then I should be able to wrap this up in 6 more chapters!**

**Beta'd by Beyond Kailani.**


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